Spring propelled picker stick motion



Aug. 14, 1951 w. G- TRAUTVETTER SPRING PROPELLED PICKER STICK MOTION 2Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed April 26, 1947 Aug. 14, 1951 w. G. TRAUTVETTER'SPRING PROPELLED PICKER STICK MOTION 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed April 26,1947 Patented Aug. 14, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

Claims.

This invention relates to looms and more particularly to an improvedpicking motion.

The principal object of this invention is the provision of an improvedpicking motion for looms in which the picking stick actuating mechanismacts, less abruptly and more smoothly upon the picking stick than doconventional picking stick actuating mechanisms. In conventional looms aleaf spring is used to effect the picking stick motion. In the presentinvention a relatively long coiled spring is substituted for the leafspring. Although ordinarily leaf and coil springs are interchangeableand are considered to be the mechanical equivalent of each other, inthis case a very striking advantage results from the use of a coilspring in placeof the conventional leaf spring. When the leaf springacts upon the picking stick in a conventional loom, the picking sticksuffers a shock and a strain out of all proportion to the force actuallyneeded to shoot the shuttle across the loom.

When a coil spring is used, however, the action upon the picking stickis smooth and gentle but sufficiently strong to enable it to engage theshuttle with sufficient force to propel the shuttle to the other side ofthe loom at a very high speed. It is accordingly a corollary object ofthis invention to provide a picking mechanism which functions at a muchgreater rate of speed than do conventional picking; mechanisms.

Another object of this invention is the provision of a picking motion inwhich a single crank mechanism both loads and releases the actuatingspring of each picking stick. In conventional looms a crank mechanism isrequired to put the spring under tension and a second cranking mechanismis required to release the picking stick for the picking motion. It isaccordingly a corollary object of this invention to provide a pickingmotion in which fewer parts are used than in conventional pickingmotions.

Still another object of this invention is the provision of a braking andlocking means for stopping the shuttle. In the present invention thisbraking mechanism is synchronized with the crank mechanism which loadsthe spring and releases the picking stick. Not only is it synchrcnizedwith said crank mechanism, but it is also connected thereto and actuatedthereby.

A preferred embodiment of this invention is shown on the accompanyingdrawing in which Fig. 1 is a side view partly in vertical section of thepicking motion herein claimed;

Fig. 2 is a front view thereof;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary view of the anchoring means'by which the lowerend of the coil spring is anchored to the frame of the loom; and

Fig. 4 is a top view of one of the shuttle boxes showing the shuttlestopping mechanism herein claimed.

The picking stick I!) is pivoted on pin I I whic is supported by abracket I2 mounted on a rod I3 on frame I4 of theloom. At its upper endthe picking stick is provided with a leather I5 and at its lower endwith a plate I6 which'constitutes one of the two elements in the lookingmechanism by which the picking stick is locked in position preparatoryto shooting the shuttle across the loom. The other element in thelocking mechanism is a corresponding plate I! which is affixed to arm I8pivoted to bracket I2 by means of pin I9. A tension spring 20 connectsthe picking stick I!) with the free or non-pivoted end of arm I8. Thisspring tends to raise arm II! in the direction of the picking stick andthereby to bring plate I! into locking engagement with'plate I5. It willbe noticed that there is an acute angle between the adjacent surfaces ofthe plates I6 and I1 so that as plate I! is raised it will jam againstplate I 6 to more firmly and securely hold the picking stick in cockedposition. It will be noted from Fig. 2 that such locking engagementbetweenthe two plates may be effected only when the leather or strikingend of the picking stick is brought over as far as it will go to theright. The lower end of the picking stick will naturally move to theleft and plate I6 will clear plate I! sufficiently to enable plate II tomove upwardly in response to the action of spring 20 upon arm I8 intolocking engagement with plate I6. A small compression spring 2| servesas a bumper between arm I8 and picking stick .III.

Also mounted on rod I3 is a bracket '25 which serves as an anchor forthe lower end of coil spring 26. The upper end of said coil spring isattached by means of an adjusting screw 21 to a lug 28 on the housing ofthe picking stick Ill. It is by means of this adjusting screw that thetension of said spring may be adjusted. To load the spring the pickingstick must be brought over to the right as shown in Fig. 2. When thespring acts upon the picking stick it pulls said stick over to theposition indicated by the dotted lines in Fig. 2. p

The mechanism by which the picking stick is moved over to the right andthe spring 25 placed under tension, includes a rocking arm 30 which ispivoted on pin I I as is the picking stick itself. An upwardly extendingportion 3| of rocking arm 30 is positioned to engage the lug 28 of thepicking stick. An adjusting screw 32 is provided in said upwardlyextending portion to adjust the contact between said upwardly extendingportion and the lug 28. A sidewardly extending portion 33 of rocking arm30 is provided with still another adjusting screw 34 which is positionedto engage the free end of pivoted arm 18. It is this adjusting screwwhich engages said pivoting arm to cause disengagement between plates 16and ll of the locking mechanism hereinabove mentioned.

It will be apparent from the foregoing that when the upwardly extendingportion 31' of rocking arm 38 is caused to engage lug 28 and to push thepicking arm over to the right of pin H and thereby placing spring 2%under tension, the sidewardly extending portion 33 and more particularlythe adjusting screw 3% thereof is caused to move out of engagement withpivoted arm l8. Conversely when the rocking arm 39 is pivoted in theopposite direction and adjusting screw 34 is brought into engagementwith pivoting arm [3, the upper end of the rocking arm will disengagelug 28 of the picking stick, leaving said picking stick free to moveleftwardly in response to the action of spring 25 upon it as soon aslocking plates [6 and l? are caused to disengage each other. This ofcourse takes place when rocking arm 38 is pivoted so far to the left asto cause engagement of the adjusting screw 34 with the free end ofpivoting arm I8.

The means by which the rocking arm 30 is thus moved about its pivot I iis the crank mechanism more clearly shown in Fig. 1. It will be notedthat a link 53 connects the crank arm 41 to the rocking arm 35. Thecrank arm i! is pivoted on pin 42, and it is provided with an irregularslot 43 which engages the crank pin 45 on crank wheel 45 which ismounted on shaft 46. Close examination of the irregular slot willdisclose that it comprises an elongated slot having an offset at oneend. The function of the offset will shortly appear. It will beunderstood that the shaft 46 is driven by conventional means. It will benoted. that the crank wheel d is geared to a second crank wheel 56 andthat said crank wheel actuates the shuttle box assembly 5! through link52. As crank Wheel 45 rotates in the direction of the arrow in Fig. l,the crank arm 49 is caused to engage in a seesaw type of motion therebyalternate; 1y raising and lowering the link 46 and thereby causingreciprocating pivotal movement of the rocking arm 38.

It will be understood that each picking stick is connected to its owncrank arm 4| and that there are two picking sticks in the loom and hencetwo cranking arms 4 I. The second cranking arm is indicated by means ofdotted lines in Fig. 1. As the one crank arm actuates the rocking arm 38to load the spring 26 connected thereto, the offset cranking arm acts inthe opposite direction upon its rocking arm 30 to release the pickingstick to which it is connected for movement against the shuttle. Themechanism is synchronized so that the spring 26 on one side of the loomis loaded before its corresponding spring on the other side of the .loomis released so that the picking stick on the receiving side of the loomis always ready to shoot the shuttle back to the other side of the loomas soon as the shuttle enters the shuttle box on said receiving side. Itis the offset in the irregular slot 43 that adapts the spring loadingmechanism to complete the operation of loading the spring before theshuttle enters the shuttle box on the side of the spring being loaded.

The action of the parts thus far described may be summarized as follows,reference being made solely to the single picking motion shown in thedrawing, but it will be understood that a corresponding action takesplace on the other side of the loom in connection with the picking stickon that side of the loom. The crank arm 4! acts upon the rocking arm asthrough link 40 causing it to pivot upwardly around pin l l. Projection3| on rocking arm 30 or its adjusting screw 32 as the case may be,engages lug 28 on the picking stick and causes said picking stick topivot toward the right. Since lug 28 is connected to the coil spring 25-by means of adjusting screw 27, this movement of the picking stick willhave the eiTect of putting the spring under tension. When this operationis complete, the crank arm 4| moves in the opposite direction and causesthe rocking arm 38 to pivot leftwardly and downwardly around pin l l.Projection iii of the rocking arm thereby disengages lug 28 of thepicking stick and frees the stick for movement around pin i l inresponse to the action of the loaded spring 26 upon it. This movement,however, is blocked by the engagement of plates l5 and H with eachother. As the rocking arm 3i! continues on its downward pivotalmovement, its adjusting screw 34 makes contact with the free end ofpivoted arm [8 and causes said arm to pivot downwardly on pin it againstthe tension of spring 20. When the pivoted arm l8 moves a sufficientdistance to remove plate I! affixed thereto from engagement with platel6, the picking stick will be completely freed for pivotal movementabout pin l l in response to the action of the loaded spring 26 upon it.

The picking stick leather i5 is thereby brought into striking contactwith the shuttle 60 and said shuttle is sent across the loom to theshuttle box on the opposie side thereof. This operation being complete,the crank arm 4! again reverses its movement and the rocking arm 39 isonce again pivoted upwardly and toward the right until it engages thelug 28 on the picking stick. As the picking stick is thereby forced topivot toward the right, its lower end moves to clear the plate I'l. Whensuch clearance is effected, the spring 20 will cause the pivoted arm l8and hence the plate H amxed to said arm, to pivot upwardly about pin 59into the position shown in Fig. 2. Plate I7 is now in locking engagementwith plate IS on the picking stick and the cycle above described isrepeated.

Acting in conjunction with the picking motion hereinabove described, isthe shuttle control motion which comprises a swell 65 pivoted to theshuttle box at cs, a leaf spring El which normally urges said swell tomove against the shuttle 60, and a locking rod 58 which is adapted tolock the swell in position to engage and stop the shuttle 5 3. Referenceto Figs. 1 and 2 will disclose that rod 68 is pivoted to the rocking arm38 so that each upward movement of the rocking arm is transmitted to thelocking bar 68, and each downward movement of the rocking arm issimilarly communicated to the locking bar 68. The locking bar 68 extendsthrough a small open ing in the shuttle box, and it is positioned toengage the swell 55. The locking bar 68 .is beveled at the top so thatwhen it is raised by rocking arm 33, it engages the swell 65 and causesit to move into the path of the shuttle. When the locking bar is in itselevated position, it causes the swell to engage and stop the shuttle.When the rocking arm 30 pivots downwardly and pulls the locking bar 68with it, said locking bar disengages the swell and thereby releases theshuttle for movement toward the shuttle box on the other side of theloom in response to the action of the picking stick thereon. Since thelocking bar 68 is pivoted to the rocking arm 30, it will clearly beunderstood that the action of said locking bar is synchronized with theaction of the picking motion.

It will be appreciated that the foregoing describes a preferredembodiment of the present invention, and that modifications andvariations may be incorporated therein without doing violence to theprinciples of the invention. It will be understood that the mechanismherein described and claimed has been designed for use in conjunctionwith conventional looms so that all that is to be done to a conventionalloom to give it the benefits of the present invention is to remove itsconventional picking and shuttle control motions and to substitute thepicking and shuttle motions hereinabove described. The claimed pickingand shuttle control motions will undoubtedly assume a somewhat differentform when designed integrally with a new loom and not merely as anadjunct to an old one.

I claim:

1. In a device of the class described, an oscillatable picking stick, alocking plate thereon, a locking lever adjacent said stick and having alocking plate thereon, a spring on said stick and connected to saidlever to urge the lever toward said stick when the stick is in cockedposition, the angle between the two locking plates being acute andcausing the jamming of the second plate against the first when the stickis in cocked position whereby the stick is held firmly in cockedposition until released.

2. In a device of the class described, an oscillatable picking stick, acoiled loading spring having one end connected directly to said stick,means automatically to lock said stick in cocked position, a shuttleengaging swell, a locking bar associated with said swell, and a singlecyclically operated bell crank adapted when moved in one direction tomove the stick to cocked position and to move said locking bar intoabutting relation with said swell to prevent its movement, and whenmoved in the opposite direction to move said locking bar from itsabutting re lation with the swell and to release said sticklockingmeans.

3. In a device of the class described, a stickoperating bell crank, apivotally mounted shuttle-engaging swell, a locking bar connected tosaid bell crank and adapted to be moved into abutting relation to saidswell to hold it in shuttle-stopping position when the bell crank ismoved in one direction, and to be moved from said abutting relation whenthe bell crank is moved in the opposite direction.

4. In a device of the class described, an oscillatable picking stick, acoiled loading spring having one end connected directly to said stick,means automatically to lock said stick in cocked position, a shuttleengaging swell, a locking bar associated with said swell, and a singlecyclically operated means adapted when moved in one direction to movethe stick to cocked position and to move said locking bar into anabutting relation into said swell to prevent its movement, and whenmoved in the opposite direction to move said locking bar from itsabutting relation with the swell and to release said sticklocking means.

5. In a device of the class described, a stick operating means, apivotally mounted shuttleengaging swell, a locking bar connected to saidmeans and adapted to be moved'into abutting relation to said swell tohold it in shuttle-stop- I ping position when said means is moved in onedirection, and to be moved from said abutting relation when said meansis moved in the opposite direction.

WILLIAM G. TRAUTVETTER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

